Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
David helps me unpack the last of the new inventory—prints of LaBete’s most popular works, and originals from curated artists around the country who paint in the same style.
Chris is off today, and I’d been looking forward to some alone time, but this is better. After all the weirdness stemming from our still-technically lingering engagement, it sometimes seems like our friendship has gotten lost in the shuffle.
We both know our arranged marriage isn’t happening now. And not just because Gabe’s back, but also because my father is soon to be a monkey who doesn’t live on my back. And that, frankly, makes me giddy.
Even now, Leo and Ruby and Gabe and Travis are working with investigators to find the evidence to nail my father to the wall.
I’ve known the Grimms most of my life, and when they set their mind to something, it happens.
How lucky for me they’re looking to destroy my dad.
And the bonus cherry on that yummy sundae? The Monarch will be mine even without the farce of marrying David. Because the corporate documents make clear that once Daddy Dearest is arrested for what he did to Gabe, then Monarch goes to me, even before my trust officially kicks in.
“Where does this one belong?” David asks, holding up a painting in greens and browns and reds that evokes wine and bonfires and cool Autumn nights.
“The east wall in the main showroom,” I say. It’ll look amazing with the afternoon light from the skylight.”
“You’ve said that about three different paintings now.”
“And they’ll all look amazing.”
David laughs, the sound loosening something in my chest. We’ve been dancing around each other ever since Gabriel came back and everything went sideways. Polite. Careful. Neither of us willing to address the giant neon elephant in the room.
But today feels different. Today feels like maybe we can finally get it all out there.
“Actually,” I say, setting down the painting I’m holding. “Can we talk first?”
Something wary flickers across his face as he puts the piece down. “That sounds ominous.”
“No, not really. I just think we need to talk about that night.”
The wariness deepens, but he nods, then pulls out a chair and sits down. “Okay,” he says. Go for it.” And, dammit, I can’t read his face at all.
I sink onto the small settee that is this room’s only place to sit. After a moment, David sits beside me, both of us slightly sideways so that we’re more or less face to face.
“I just wanted to say that I’m sorry for—well, for that night. And when I bolted. You know that wasn’t about you, right? I got Leo’s text about Gabe, and I didn’t even think. I just ran. And then I was a total ass and never explained, or apologized, or anything.”
“Bella.” His voice is gentle. “It’s okay. I was a little freaked at first, but when I learned why you bolted, I totally got it.”
“But see? You’re proving my point. You’re probably the nicest guy on the planet, and I rushed out without even the courtesy of a text from the car.”
“You found out the love of your life was alive. I would have done the same thing.”
“Would you?”
“In a heartbeat.” He meets my eyes. “It wasn’t a real engagement, remember? And you’re my best friend.”
“I know,” I say. “But David…” I trail off, then bite my lower lip as a reminder that I have to go on. “That deal. I never should have agreed.” I look down at my hands, then rub sweaty palms along my jeans. “I know how you felt about me. The whole arrangement. It wasn’t fair to you.”
“It wasn’t fair to you, either. We talked about it, remember?
And I’m a big boy. I knew what I was agreeing to.
And I knew you didn’t feel the same way about me that I felt about you.
Did I hope that you’d let go of Gabe’s ghost once we were married?
Maybe that we’d even end up with a real happily ever after? Sure, I did. But I never bet on hope.”
I swallow a throat full of tears. “David.”
“I always knew you weren’t over him. And I also knew that if you ever did get over him, I might not be the guy you wanted to fill that empty hole. Even if we were technically married, I still might not have been that guy. I wanted it—hell, I prayed for it. But I never expected it.”
I press my lips together and blink like mad. “Would it help if I told you that I’ve wished on a million stars that I felt that way about you?”
“Maybe a little.”
“How about if I tell you that sleeping with you really was good. I mean, you have mad skills, my friend.”
That gets a real laugh out of him.
When we both quit laughing, we’re holding hands, smiling at each other.
“For the record,” he says quietly, “I’m glad you found him again.
I want you to be happy, even if it’s not with me.
Even if your happy is currently complicated because your dad fucked with that boy’s head.
You’ll get him back, Bella. And when you do, I’m going to be cheering the loudest for you two crazy kids. ”
I laugh, and as I do, he puts an arm around my shoulder and leans in to kiss me, soft and gentle. A kiss that’s not about romance, but a toast to what we’ve shared and the friendship still to come.
His lips have barely grazed the corner of mine when he’s gone.
One second, David is there, leaning toward me. The next, he’s stumbling backward, Gabe’s fist twisted in the collar of his shirt, Gabe’s face a mask of cold fury.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
“Gabriel, dammit!” I’m on my feet, heart pounding. “It’s not what it looks like!”
“It looked like he kissed you.” Gabriel’s voice is ice. “In a gallery full of my work.
“We were talking.”
“I heard you talking.” His grip on David’s collar tightens. “I heard him tell you he’s glad you’re happy despite distance and worries. Sounds like a pretty intimate conversation to me.”
“Gabriel, please. ”
“Is this what you do when I’m not around? Run to him? Tell him all our problems so he can comfort you?”
“That’s not fair.”
“Life’s not fair. I learned that the hard way.”
He shoves David back, hard enough that David stumbles into the wall. For a terrible moment, I think Gabriel’s going to hit him—really hit him, with the full force of five years of rage.
But he doesn’t. He just stands there, chest heaving, hands clenched into fists.
“I think I should go,” David says quietly.
“Yes.” Gabriel’s voice is flat. “You should.”
“No.” I step between them, facing Gabriel. “He doesn’t have to leave because you can’t control your jealousy.”
“My jealousy?” Gabriel’s laugh is sharp. “I’m not jealous. I’m furious. There’s a difference.”
“Is there? Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you’re punishing me for something I didn’t do. Just like before.”
The words land hard. I see Gabriel flinch.
“This is different.”
“The hell it is.” I press my fingers to my temples. “Dammit, I thought we were past this. I thought you trusted me.”
“I do trust you.”
“Then act like it.”
The silence that follows is suffocating.
Gabriel stares at me, his chest heaving, and I can practically see a beast clawing at the inside of his skin, fighting to burst out. For a long moment, I think he might actually apologize. Might admit he was wrong.
Instead, he turns and walks out.
The door slams behind him, and I’m left standing in the middle of my half-unpacked break room, shaking with anger and something that feels terrifyingly like grief.
“Bella.” David’s voice is gentle. “I’m so sorry.
“You didn’t do anything wrong.” I sink back onto the settee, suddenly exhausted. “He did.”
David sits beside me, careful to leave space between us. “Do you want me to go?”
“No.” The word comes out fiercer than I intended. “No. He doesn’t get to chase my friends away because he can’t control his jealousy.” I draw in a long breath, then another. Then one more for good measure.
“I can’t keep doing this,” I finally say. “I can’t keep walking on eggshells, wondering when the next explosion is going to happen. I love him, but I can’t live like this.”
“So what are you going to do?”
I shoot him a half smile. “Good thing I have a permanent suite in a kickass Atlantic City casino. Any chance you want to hang out? We could snag Harper, then order pizza and drink wine.”
“You had me at pizza,” he says as we walk out together, and I try not to think about the man headed back to The Beast to spend a long night alone with his rage.